Camp As Sayliyah Overview
April 21, 2026 Update: Trump Administration Reportedly in Talks to Send CAS Residents to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The New York Times reported on April 21, 2026 that the Trump administration is in talks to send as many as 1,100 Afghan allies at Camp As Sayliyah to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The group includes interpreters for the U.S. military, former members of the Afghan Special Operations forces, approximately 150 family members of active-duty U.S. servicemembers, and more than 460 children. According to the reporting, residents would face a choice between relocation to the DRC or return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
That is not a choice. It is coercion.
The DRC is the world's second-largest refugee crisis. It is in active armed conflict with Rwanda. It already hosts more than 600,000 refugees it cannot support. Asking Afghan women, children, commandos, and interpreters to choose between a country at war and a country that will hunt them is not resettlement policy. It is abdication dressed up as diplomacy.
There is one real path forward. Bring them here.
These individuals were moved under U.S. authority. The overwhelming majority have been vetted. A number had DHS waivers in motion before the November 2025 shooting. The United States made them a promise. The United States can keep it.
👉 Read the New York Times story
👉 See the numbers on the CAS Fact Sheet
Why the DRC Proposal Is the Wrong Answer
It is unsafe. The DRC is in active conflict, facing a cross-border war with Rwanda, attacks on existing refugee camps, and one of the largest displacement crises on the planet. Moving Afghan families there is not a durable solution. It is a holding pattern with worse conditions and fewer protections than the ones they are already in.
It is coercive. Residents are being presented with two options that no reasonable person would accept, designed to produce the outcome the administration cannot achieve openly: forcing Afghan allies back to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
It is operationally unserious. American diplomats have reportedly spent months approaching multiple African countries. Most of those talks have fallen apart. There is a reason for that, and it is not the fault of the host countries.
It is morally indefensible. More than 780 of the people at CAS are women and children. Approximately 150 are immediate family members of active-duty U.S. servicemembers. These are not strangers. They are our people.
Third-Country Partners Will Engage When the United States Stops Undermining Its Own Credibility
Countries that might have been willing to help are not picking up the phone. That is not an accident.
The administration has paired its third-country outreach with policies that insult the same partners it is asking for favors. The visa bond program is a clear example. The United States cannot credibly ask a country to absorb Afghans off its hands while telling that country's own nationals they must post thousands of dollars in cash bonds simply to travel to the United States. Host countries notice. They also see the travel ban, the re-interviews of already-vetted refugees, and the halted green card processing.
Fix those problems, and there are partners who will engage in good faith. Until they are fixed, expect more of the same. Stalled negotiations, bad options, and Afghan lives traded for political theater.
March 31, 2026 Update: Deadline Missed, Families Remain at Risk
On January 14, 2026 the State Department briefed Congress that all residents of Camp As Sayliyah (CAS) would be relocated to third countries by March 31.
That deadline has now passed.
More than 1,100 Afghan allies and their families remain in limbo under U.S. authority, including immediate family members of active-duty U.S. servicemembers. They have not been given clear options for where they will go next.
A deadline was announced without a plan, and it has not been delivered.
They are now trapped as prisoners of incompetence and inaction.
The security situation has also deteriorated. Iranian missile and drone activity has already put Qatar at risk, and families at CAS have reported witnessing intercepts overhead and debris entering residential areas.
This is not a theoretical risk. It is immediate.
We did not discover this problem on March 31. We documented it, escalated it, and warned about it at every stage as it developed.
Read Our March 31 Letter to Congress
👉 Read the full letter to Congress
What We’ve Been Saying for Over a Year
July 2025 – Warned CAS was at risk of becoming an indefinite holding environment
February 11, 2026 – State Department committed, on the record, to briefing Congress before the March 31 deadline
March 1, 2026 – Notified senior officials that missile debris had entered living quarters
March 31, 2026 – Deadline missed; more than 1,100 individuals remain in limbo
April 3, 2026 – Raised concerns with senior State and NSC officials about the Department's refusal to provide temporary travel documents for CAS residents
April 8, 2026 – Requested engagement on any DHS waivers in motion prior to the November 2025 shooting
April 21, 2026 – New York Times reports the administration is in talks to send up to 1,100 CAS residents to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
What Is Camp As Sayliyah
Camp As Sayliyah is a U.S.-managed transit facility in Doha, Qatar, housing more than 1,100 Afghan allies and their family members.
These individuals were brought out of Afghanistan by the United States government, vetted, and placed into lawful pathways for resettlement. Many were approved for entry to the United States.
They did not choose this location. They are there because the United States put them there.
More than half are women. More than half are children. Approximately 150 are immediate family members of active-duty U.S. servicemembers.
What’s Happening Now
Residents have been told they must leave, but have not been told where they are going or when.
Some have been offered potential relocation to third countries where they have no ties, no clear legal status, and no guarantees of protection.
Others, including those with denied cases, remain stuck without the ability to move forward with their lives.
Families who fled Taliban retaliation are now sheltering from missile debris inside U.S.-managed housing.
This is no longer a processing challenge. It is a safety and accountability failure.
Security Concerns
The security environment around CAS has deteriorated significantly.
Residents have reported:
Missile intercepts overhead
Military activity in close proximity
Debris entering living spaces
They do not have hardened shelter comparable to U.S. personnel in the region.
Current protections are not sufficient.
What Needs to Happen Now
Clear communication to all residents about where they are going and when
Immediate movement to safety for all individuals currently at CAS
Completion of U.S. pathways for those already vetted and approved
Durable, lawful solutions for those not eligible for U.S. entry
Accountability
The United States assumed responsibility for these families when it brought them into U.S.-managed transit.
That responsibility has not changed.
This is not a failure of awareness.
It is a failure to act on information that has been consistently, clearly, and repeatedly provided.
Anyone who attempts to frame this as partisan is choosing to play politics with people’s lives.
This mission has always been bipartisan. It must remain so.
Resources for Press and Congressional Offices
AfghanEvac Substack (including press coverage and updates)
For media inquiries or to connect with impacted families, please contact:
press@afghanevac.org
Our Commitment
We are not walking away from our mission partners.
We will continue to push for solutions that move people to safety, uphold U.S. commitments, and restore credibility to this effort.
We can still get this right.
But it will require urgency, clarity, and action.